1. Field
The present disclosure concerns a kinematic movement system for operating units of avant-garde bending machines. These are automatic machines for bending and shaping sheet metal.
This kinematic system features the electrical actuation and a particular kinematic drive of the main movements responsible for bending. The disclosure differs from machines currently produced which have hydraulic actuation.
The system according to the disclosure can be applied to a compact bending machine. In terms of weight and size such a machine can fit in a container, without the noisy and cumbersome hydraulic control unit. An ecological advantage is that it does not require topping up with great quantities of mineral oil. The machine is faster and more reliable than current machines and has more limited production costs.
This disclosure can be applied in the production of bending machines, and also to industrial bending machines for sheet metal.
2. General Background
It is known that the industry relative to the production of sheet metal items uses bending machines that allow a series of bends to be made in a single piece of sheet metal, in a completely automatic and controlled way, in order to obtain a finished product such as, for example, a cooker hood or a shelf.
It is also known that bending machines for sheet metal normally consist of:                a fixed bed to support the material, for example sheet metal, to be bent;        a support frame for a clamping press;        a punch, being part of the press, and a corresponding counter-punch acting as means for clamping the material during the bending phase;        one or more bending blades that can be moved towards the material being processed;        appropriate kinematic motions designed to move the bending blade or blades along the bed for shaping the piece clamped between the punch and the counter-punch;        means for moving the sheet metal or the profile towards the blades in working conditions;        transducers or sensors of various types, to control the process, connected to an electronic unit which controls the production process.        
A bending machine of the known type described above, marketed by the applicant hereto, comprises a blade-holder structure with a “C” shaped cross-section, movable in two reciprocally orthogonal directions with respect to the fixed bed, on which the bending blade(s) is (are) fixed.
The profile of the bend that can be obtained with a known automatic bending machine is not just the classic fixed angle profile that can be obtained with a manual bending machine. The simultaneous control of the positioning of the sheet metal and of the pressure exerted on it makes it possible to obtain radial profiles.
The use of traditional blades, particular tools and dies, included in the bending cycle, also makes it possible to form special profiles, without the need for the intervention of an operator when the length or the special tool changes.